At the risk of getting a lot of flak....
There is very little difference between a Rotax Max and a Formula Blue engine in the power department. Certainly it isn't that noticeable to the average driver, however..
There is a very big difference in the way the power is delivered, the Rotax has the power valve that provides a great slug of power in the mid range (?); so that when I have been out on the track with Rotaxes, even if I can go through a corner quicker than they can, they can out drag me up the straight.
The karts are set up quite differently, because the Rotax tyres are much stickier. This affects the way one drives, the lines into corners and the braking points. Blues slide much more, so punish any kind of error proportionately more, except perhaps turning in too tightly where they tyre grip can bog one down.
Formula Blue has the restrictor system, essentially so that the heavier drivers have the same performance as the lighter drivers. Effectively, whatever the actual ability of a Lynx, it is performing to the standard of a Rotax 177 rather than Rotax Max.
The differences between the ways the karts perform is visible. Except for the top drivers, most people transferring from Blue to Max perform worse in the Max until their driving style changes, when they usually end back up where their skill had them in the Blues and vice versa.
The engines are as reliable as any other engine. If you run them at top racing performance, but maintain them like a generator, then the engine will fail. There's a nominal 20 hour rebuild period, but if you are pushing them hard then it's probably down to around 400 laps before you do a piston and 2000 laps before you do the bottom end, with an inspection after any hard racing. Its worth replacing things like a circlip (20p) rather than come to a halt when you are well in the lead because a circlip failed 'before its time'.
However, since the engine is not sealed, these are jobs you can do yourself, so it is reasonably cheap to maintain and certainly doesn't require a rebuild after every event.
Some engines have done nearly 2000 laps before anyone has even looked at them. The drivers were doing well in the league tabels too.
A new engine from Tabor (the importer) will currently set you back £1450 with all the accessories (exhaust, rad, waterpump, powerbox, battery) and £1150 without the accessories.
A used engine from the same site goes for between £650 and £900 depending on the bore life. Of course, with a cast liner you can always return the engine to a zero wear state which cannot be done with an an integral barrel with a Nikasil lining directly on the aluminium (like the Rotax, I think).
DTH?
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Formula Blue Advice by 'ChrisA' (12 May 2009 @ 22:26)
